Cowgate junction improvements

Cowgate junction is used by 60,000 motorists daily, as well as being a major route for public transport - with almost 70 buses passing through the junction every hour during the day. The old road layout created congestion and delays, as it is difficult to manage congestion on a roundabout at peak periods, as priority is always given to the right, which can lead to queuing traffic on some approaches more than on others, adding to journey times.

We invested over £5m to upgrade and modernise the old roundabout.

In turning the old roundabout, with its unpopular pedestrian subways, into a signalised junction with bus and cycle lanes and street level crossings, around 2,000 massive polystyrene blocks were used to infill the basin on the old roundabout and subways.

New intelligent traffic lights were installed which detect traffic levels and adapt intelligently to timings to smooth traffic flow through the junction, reducing congestion and queuing traffic. Over time, the council say that the lights will build up more intelligence, and improve journey times further.